Diplomats from around the world concluded nine days of talks in Geneva—plus a marathon overnight session that lasted into the early hours of Friday—with no agreement on a global plastics treaty. Many of their delegates said the text did not reflect their mandate under a UN Environment Assembly resolution to “end plastic pollution” by addressing the “full life cycle” of plastics. “We are truly sad to say that we will not have a treaty to end plastic pollution here in Geneva,” the head negotiator for Norway, Andreas Bjelland Erikse, told the chair. The decision ends a contentious week and a half of discussions during the “resumed” fifth session of negotiations over a United Nations plastics treaty, which started in Geneva on August 4. Delegates had arrived in the city hoping to finalize a treaty by Thursday, having already overrun their original deadline to complete the agreement by the end of 2024.